Joe Rogan says he’ll “try harder” after giving a platform to people who spread COVID conspiracy theories. The comedian took to Instagram to apologize to Spotify in a lengthy video in the wake of Neil Young pulling his music off the streaming platform as a result of the podcaster's controversial guests.
Joe Rogan Is Trying To Quash The Backlash That Spotify Is Getting From Artists After Guests On His Podcast Pushed Conspiracy Theories.
In a 10-minute video posted to Instagram, Joe explained that he’s “not a doctor” and “not a scientist,” reminding people that he’s “just a person who sits down and talks to people.”
Some of the people Joe sat down with peddled unproven claims about COVID-19 that caused an uproar. For his part, Joe denied trying to spread misinformation but did admit that he sometimes gets things wrong.
"Some of my ideas are not that prepared or fleshed out because I’m literally having them in real-time, but I do my best, and they’re just conversations, and I think that’s also the appeal of the show," he explained in the video. "It’s one of the things that makes it interesting. So, I want to thank Spotify for being so supportive during this time, and I’m very sorry that this is happening to them and that they’re taking so much from it."
Neil Young Pulled His Music From The Platform And Encouraged Other Artists To Follow.
Neil Young took a stand against the entire charade, saying he would remove his music from Spotify unless they cut ties with the comedian. Of course, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the streaming giant sided with Joe; after all, they paid him $100 million for exclusive streaming rights to his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
The Rockin’ in the Free World singer kept his word and pulled his music off Spotify, and called on “other artists and record companies” to “move off the Spotify platform and stop supporting Spotify's deadly misinformation about COVID.”
Joni Mitchell heeded the call and pulled her music from Spotify in protest. Rumors suggest Barry Manilow and the Foo Fighters could be the next to walk, but so far it hasn't happened.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have also expressed their concerns with Spotify. The two called on the platform to "meet the moment," but stopped short of pulling their content from the service.
In response to the whole mess, Spotify has announced that they would add a content warning before any podcast episodes discussing COVID-19.